Thread cleaner



Patented Oct. 4, 1938 PATENT orrrcr.

THREAD CLEANER Herman R.. Schmadeke, Brooklyn, N. Y.; assigner toFalconMachine and Tool Co., Inc., Brooklyn, N .`Y., a corporation of New YorkYApplicationJanuary 2, 1936,v Serial No. 57,307

s Claims., (cl. 21a- 70) f`The present invention-relates tothreadcleaners of the"v type lused on windingfmachines and usuallyattached to; the traversing mechanism oi the machine'. Moreparticularly, the invention embodies` a `special supporting bracket forthe cleaner blades vas welll` as a novel support for the procelain` orguide associated therewith.-

Itis a well" recognizeddisadvantage in theV winding art 'that good rawknots frequently -fail to ,pass the cleaner` blades and consequentlycause breakage of the thread, thus necessitating a delay in windingwhile the operator ties the broken ends. If the cleaner is rigidlyixedto the traverse bar, the threadlwill be broken when a slight strain isplaced thereon by engagement of a knot withthe cleaner. Some types or"blades are mounted to provide for more or less lateral --movement of theblades, and it has been found that this `form i blade mounting relieves,to lsome extent, the strain onV the', thread `when a knot is drawnthrough the cleaner. Various vd eects `in the latter ty'peof `rn'ountinghave been noted, however, 'and itI isfintended in the presentinvention'to overcomesuoh difficulties "as Ahave been met within*cleanerspreviously designed( to relievestrains on the threadl as itis being cleaned.

cone of the objects of the present inventions to support the cleanerblades so that `they are permitted to rock slightly notl only laterallywith respect to the thread but longitudinally thereto as well. Thismovement of the blades rnight be` termed universal, inasmuch as theblade holder is permitted to be displaced in its own plane eithervertically or horizontally or in both directions; also,` it maypivotabout a point in itsV own plane, or about a horizontal line, or about. avertical line. This result will be `more apparent irornthe' descriptionof the cleanersupport that 4follows herein. f Itisanther object of theinvention Yto sup` port the porcelain or guide forwardly of the cleanerso Vthat it willbe movable vertically with respect to the cleaner sothat it will relieve the strain on theVV thread undercertai-n conditionssuch, for instance, as when threads cross. YThe support referred tocomprises a yeldable mount! ing easily attachable to the cleaner supportand,` in its preferred form, consists of a suitably bent wire;

Other objects of the invention will be apparent from the followingdescription takenwith the accompanying draw-ing,` in'whichi `Fig. 1 is aperspective View of 'the cleaner and porcelainft'ogether withtheirsupporting elements, the whole illustratinga preferred form of theinvention;

Fig. 2 is a front View of the cleaner support;

Fig.V 3 is a side view'in section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig.` 2;

Fig. 4 is a front view of the cleaner comprising the usual cleanerblades secured to a fork;

Fig. 5 is a perspective of the porcelain or guide support;

Fig. 6 is a side View, and Fig. l a rear view of a special iorrn ofguide employedr in the present invention.

In Vthe! drawing, the usual traverse bar is in` dicated at ill, theceaning blades at li, and the guide at l2. Secure'sil to bar iii by anysuitable means, such'a's screws i3, is a bracket i4 conveniently a thinmetal stamping. Bracket le is generally U-shaped in form, providing arecess l5, side arms iyand a connecting bridge ll at the lower partthereof. The lower ends of arms areY angularly offset from the plane ofthe bracketior a purpose to be explained hereinn after. Medially oi thebracket and depending from bridge il is a tongue i8 having at its lowerend a bent linger portion iii, ends arms It are bent 'forwardly to formflanges Elfthe latter having fingers 22 thereon. Bear-` ings for theguide'support are illustrated as being pressed from the bracket arms, asindicated at 23. lIt will be seen that `notches 2li are'cut in thebracket to facilitate easy attachment and removal of the bracket fromthetraverse bar.

Secured toA bracket i5 by a screw or rivet are two spring plates 25, 26,between which is interposed a washer or spacer 2l to act as a separatorfor the plates.'-Bothplates are stamped from light spring metal and areintended to be yieldable. The front spring plate 25 is notched at 28,this notch cooperating With finger iS to' form a non-pivotal connectionbetween the plate and bracket ifi. Adjacenteach of its upper corners,plate 25 is provided 'with' convex humps or buttons on the rear facethereof, as indicatedrat 255 in Fig. 2.' While these buttons may beformed on the spring plate in any suitable manner, they are preferablypressed from the metal and appear as indentations in Figs. 1 and 2. The`rear spring 'plate 25 extends' upwardly substantially to the upper endsof arms l5 and is provided Y adjacent its `upper edge with a 'verticalpressed rib 3l on its front face. its upper edge is bent rearwardly toform a lip 32 to provide for easy insertion of the cleaner into thebracket.

` As shown in Fig. 4, the cleaner co-nsists'of a pair -ofblades 33,preferably made fromhardened steel, and riveted or otherwise securelyfastened to a holder or fork member 34. The fork is drilled near itslower corners to provide two apertures or recesses 35. 'Ihese areillustrated as openings extending through the fork, but may be concaveindentations, if so desired. These recesses are slightly larger indiameter than the buttons 29 and are spaced apart substantially the samedistance as the space between the buttons. The purpose of making therecesses larger than the buttons is to permit some relative movement ofthe fork with respect to plate in every direction in the plane of thefork. At the same time the buttons project sufficiently far into therecesses so that the fork cannot be withdrawn from the bracket withoutfirst overcoming the spring pressure of plate 25, that is, by a verticalpull strong enough to displace the convex buttons with respect to therecesses. It is here mentioned that washer 21 has a thicknesssubstantially the same as that of fork 34 so that the fork ts snuglybetween the spring plates and its accidental removal is precluded byengagement of buttons 29 with recesses 35. Because of the lostmotionconnection between the blade' holder and the buttons on plate 25, theholder is free to move either laterally, vertically, or obliquely, butonly to a limited extent. It is apparent, also, that the holder may havea limited pivotal movement about either of the buttons.

It will be seen from Fig. 1 that flanges 2| and fingers 22 form a slotto guide the cleaner fork into the bracket and prevent substantiallateral or forward movement of the fork and blades. Actually, theflanges and fingers are spaced a slight amount from the face and edgesof the blade holder so that the holder fits loosely therein and isthereby permitted to have some movement in either a forward or lateraldirection. Furthermore, because of the springy character of plate 2B,fork 34 is permitted to rock rearwardly on what might properly be said apivotal line defined by the upper edge of bridge portion of the bracket.Also, because of rib 3|, and the yieldability of plates 25 and 26, fork34 may pivot vertically about the rib. .It will thus be apparent thatthe bracket and the spring plates thereon form a support for the bladeholding fork which permits a universal or floating movement of the forkin the bracket. Hence, knots or slubs on the thread, instead of engagingthe blades with what might be called abrupt impact, first cause theblade holder to yield in whatever direction the force of the travelingslub is directed, after which the holder adapts itself to the bestposition which permits passage of the slub.

To cooperate with the cleaner described hereinbefore, a special form ofguide and guide support are illustrated in the drawing. Referring toFig. 1, it will be seen that the guide I2 comprises a porcelain memberof the type having overlapping hooks and a passage 36 therebetween.'I'he entrant edge 31 of the guide is substantially wider than the guidepassage and the guide face 38 is deiined by diverging flanges 39. Thisconstruction insures a wider surface over which the thread is guided andthe flanges 39 permit a wide play of the thread without danger of itsentanglement with other parts of the guide. The guide is supportedforwardly of the cleaner by a yieldable member 4| preferably formed frompiano wire and bent to the shape shown in Fig. 5. The guide holder isprovided with an open loop 42 from which leg portions 43 diverge, theends of the legs being bent at substantially a right angle to formfingers 44. These ngers are readily attachable to the bracket as shownin Fig. 1, tting snugly into bearings 23 after passing through apertures45 in flanges 2|. The legs are inclined downwardly from horizontalportions 46 which lie flush on flanges 2| so that the vertical faces ofthe guide and cleaner blades are not in parallel relation. As statedhereinbefore, the lower ends of bracket arms I6 are offset angularly.When attached to the traverse bar, the cleaner support is thus tiltedslightly to the rear. The effect of this arrangement is to have thethread enter the cleaner at an angle, permitting relative movement ofslubs with respect to the face of the cleaner. The wire support 4| tendsto yield to abnormal pressures incident to pulls on the threads, as whenthey become crossed, and prevents abrupt breakage of the threads.

The guide is provided on its lower side with a substantially cylindricalboss 41 having a groove 48 therein adjacent the bottom face of theguide. Projecting rearwardly from the boss is a lug 49 which, when theloop 42 of the wire is snapped into groove 48, prevents relativerotation between the guide and its support. A threaded stem is providedon the guide in case it is desired to attach the guide to other forms ofsupports.

While a preferred form of the invention has been described and certainparts shown in detail, it is intended that the invention be susceptibleof such changes and modifications as come within the definition thereofas expressed in the appended claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a thread cleaner, a blade holder, a support for said holder, andmeans for retaining said holder in said support including a plurality oflost-motion connections between said holder and said support, wherebysaid holder is movable in any direction with respect to said support inthe plane of said holder.

2. In a thread cleaner, a blade holder having a pair of recessestherein, a support for said holder, and means on said support forretaining said holder in said support including projections having alost-motion coaction with said recesses, whereby said holder is free tomove in any direction with respect to said support in the plane of saidholder.

3. In a thread cleaner, a blade holder having a whereby said holder isfree to move pivotally l about either of said projections in the planeof said holder.

4. In a thread cleaner, a cleaning element, a support for said element,and a pair of spring members on the support cooperating respectivelywith the opposite faces of said element to retain the element in thesupport and to permit limited movement of the element with respect tosaid support in the line of thread travel.

5. In a thread cleaner, a cleaner element, a support for said elementincluding a pair of spring members on the support cooperatingrespectively with the opposite faces of said element to retain theelement in the support and to permit limited movement of the elementwith respect to said support in the line of thread travel, and means forlimiting movement of said element laterally with respect to said springmembers.

6. In a thread cleaner, a cleaner element, a support for said elementincluding a pair of substantially fiat spring plates on the supportcooperating respectively with the opposite faces of said element toretain the element in the support and topermit limited movement of theelement with respect to said support in the line of thread travel, and amedial projection on one of said plates acting as a iulcrum to permitlimited rocking movement of said element with respect to said plates.

,'7. In a thread cleaner, a cleaning element, a support for said elementcomprising a U-shaped bracket, and a pair of yieldable members securedto said support between the arms of the bracket, said yieldable memberscooperating respectively 15 with the front and rear faces of saidelement to retain the element in said bracket and to permit limitedmovement of the element with respect to said bracket in the line ofthread travel.

8. In a thread cleaner, a blade holding member, a supporting member forsupporting said blade holding member, one of said members having a pairof recesses therein, and means on the other of said members forretaining said holding member in said supporting member includingprojections on said other member having a lostmotion coaction with saidrecesses, whereby said holding member is free to move in any directionwith respect to said supporting member in the plane of said holdingmember.

HERMAN R. SCHMADEKE.

